The latest earnings report from Bank of America is the new definition of the word "noisy." That's how one leading analyst described the numbers, which seemed open to wide interpretation because of billions of dollars in litigation charges.

Excluding one-time items, BofA said Wednesday it made 14 cents a share in the first quarter—which compares with consensus estimates of 5 cents. Revenue also came in at a better-than-expected $22.57 billion.

"It looks like it's an operating beat, but they got there probably like no one thought they would," Raymond James bank analyst Anthony Polini said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" right after the earnings announcement.

"It looks like they added some liquidity on the balance sheet, which brought the margin down, and kept spread income slightly below than expectations," he added.

Including one-time items, BofA reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $514 million, or 5 cents per share, in the three months to March 31, compared with a profit of $1.11 billion, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.

The previous quarter's results were hit by $1.6 billion in charges related to disputes with bond insurers.

Fixed income, currency and commodities sales, and trading revenue at BofA only dropped slightly. "Their fixed-income [trading] number was surprisingly strong—given what he saw at Citi and JPMorgan where we had double-digit declines," Polini explained.

He also said that BofA's results won't change his opinion on the stock. His price target is $20 a share.

—By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere. Reuters contributed to this report.

Sign Up for Our Newsletter
Morning Squawk

CNBC's before the bell news roundup

SIGN UP NOW

Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about about our products and services. By signing up for newsletters, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.